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J.P. Licks on Newbury street closed for the last time Sunday after 20 years on the busy street.

The Jamaica Plain-based ice cream shop closed its Back Bay location after losing its lease, according to owner Vince Petryk.

The news of the closing was first reported on Twitter by Boston Tweet.

The building in which the store operated was bought by a new owner who wanted to rent the entire building to one tenant rather than having the traditional retail shop on the first floor with offices above, Petryk said.

“There was no way we could sell enough ice cream cones to pay that rent,” he said in a phone interview Monday.

Petryk said he was sad to see the third store he ever opened close, admitting he sees the the now nine shops sprinkled around the greater Boston area as “children in a weird sort of way.”

Petryk said the company is “looking actively” for a new spot on Boylston Street or Newbury Street and promised, “we will be back.”

Despite the loss of one shop, the company’s iconic cow is popping up in another Boston neighborhood.